i'm looking into getting a set of long tubes and small x-pipe. just wondering from those of you who have already tackled this process how major of a process it is. me and my mechanic will be the ones doing it so i will be done in a pro's garage with lift and all the goodies so i'm just wanting to know how diffiicult of a process the headers will be.

 

I'm intrested in feedback to. I'm going to tackle them DIY on jackstands heh, I've got air tools at least.

 

I did mine in my garage, on jackstands, no air tools. My car only has 2500 miles on it so no bolts were stuck, etc. Honestly, I dont know how much air tools are going to help. Maybe for Black Sunshine since his car will be on a lift, but being on jackstands, you're very cramped for space. I think I spent a total of 12 hours between 2 days installing them. Was kind of fun, yet sometimes frustrating. Some of the major areas of the install included removing all motor mounts and raising the front of the motor about 1.5". Removing the rack & pinion from the chassis, and then trying to get it aligned back up properly. Finally, once you get the long tubes on, accessing some of the bolts that attach the flanges to the head is a pain in the *** because you now have some extra pipes in the way. The Dyantech headers came with excellent instructions, accompanied by detailed pictures. Some tools you'll need include 13mm and 10mm gear wrenches (the ratcheting wrenches), an assortment of sockets, some deepwell, from 5mm (for the stock manifold studs) all the way to an 18mm for the rack & pinion nuts. A swivel, an 8-10" extension, anit-sieze, plenty of light, some sort of stock car jack (the ones that you twist the little tab and it screws in and lifts the jack up). That's what I found easiest to lift the motor with. A block of wood, to place under the front lip of the oil pan. A torque wrench. Of course, my 1/2" drive tq. wrench was basically too big to fit anywhere I needed it, so nothing is torqued back to spec. Its just as tight as it can physically go. Umm... can't think of anything else of the top of my head. If you've got the patience and the tools, go for it. You'll definitely know the underworkings of your car like the back of your hand when you're done.

Kyle

 

I did mine on a drive on lift with air tools etc. Mine were the Dynatechs which is one of the finest setups I have installed. It is a very complete setup. All in all it took about 3.5 hours.

By the way, welcome to the Wildhorsesclub !!!!

 

I agree 100%. My job took 5 hours with a floor jack & jackstands. I have air tools but I couldn't really use them given the lack of room.

 

alright thanks guys. that gives me an ideal of what to look forward to. i was talking to my mechanic about it and he was as clueless as i was b/c my mustang is the only new body style he's worked on yet. and thanks for the warm welcome to the wild horses MusicCityGT

 

Damn some of you guys are pros. It took me about 8-10 hours over two daysto do mine, but I've never done headers before. I installed the kooks long tubes, and I was able to fit them without undoing the steering column, but I jacked up the motor more than 1.5". Biggest problems I had was removing the bolts fromthe original exhaust manifold. The 5mmsocket I used was a little rounded out on the inside so it was hard to use. Having a goodoneprobably would have shaved an hour or two off my install time. Some of the bolts on the long tube headers were very difficult to get to like others mentioned. I had to contort my arm in some very uncomfortable positions to get around the pipes. The passenger side header was way easier than the driver side.

+1 on the stock car jack for lifting the motor. That is exactly what I used.

Again I had zero experience and I managed to get it done so if your friend is a mechanic then you are good to go.

 

nice posts guys. make s me feel better about doing them

 

Good news- I'll have my new motor mounts to put in
Bad news- I have no idea what I'm doing!!!
Good news- I can follow instructions well
Bad news- I'm dyslexic

:bitingmynails:

 

Air tools makes it go so much smoother
+1 jack up the moter make a lil more room